Plan to turn Gulu airfield into airport still waiting

The promise:

In the first week of January 2014, the then Minister for Works, Transport and Communications, Mr Abraham Byandala, was in Gulu to commission maintenance works on the runway, taxiway and Apron at Gulu airfield.

During the same function, the minister unveiled government plans to upgrade the airfield to an international airport.

“In the future we shall upgrade this airport to international standards with larger passenger terminal building, fire and rescue services infrastructure, put runway lights, new car park, access roads, air navigation and traffic control facilities and cargo operations infrastructure,” Mr Byandala said.

In making the announcement, Mr Byandala was reaffirming what had been announced earlier. President Museveni had in August 2005 and in 2010 made the same announced that as the country inched towards the 2011 general elections.

Plans for the expansion and refurbishment of Gulu Airfield and a host of other airfields across the country had been unveiled on August 29, 2005, by the then spokesperson of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Mr Ignie Igundura.

Mr Igundura revealed that besides giving Uganda’s lone international airport, Entebbe, a much-needed facelift, CAA would upgrade and expand all the 12 airfields under its supervision with the view of turning at least four, including Gulu, into international airports.

Four years later the ruling NRM placed the upgrade of the airfield high on its agenda by giving it prominence in its 2011-2016 manifesto.

“The programme to redevelop Gulu Airport into a northern regional hub is taking shape. The preliminary master plan and detailed engineering designs for resealing of the runway and construction of the new apron and taxiways have been completed and will be implemented in the next five years,” the ruling party’s 2011-2016 manifesto reads in parts.

Early in 2011, CAA received a master plan and detailed pavement design from Ms Gauff-Gibb Consortium Consultants, which provided for upgrading of the facility which is located about four kilometers out of Gulu town to a Class 4E status. It was meant to have a runway that could handle cargo carriers such as the 160 tonne Boeing 767.

The facility had been operating as an aerodrome. The most active years had been prior to the winding up of the national flag career, Uganda Airlines Corporation (UAC), and later during the years of insurgency as some of the more moneyed travellers sought to avoid ambushes by rebels who often waylaid motorists along the Kamdini-Gulu road.

The plan

Years of inactivity had however taken a toll on the runway and other facilities. The plan was therefore multipronged. It was to make it acquire a whole set of new buildings to replace the single four roomed office building in place. It was also to give it a new expanded and lengthened asphalt surface. At the time it was 1,750 meters long and 30 meter wide.

It also entailed making available at the facility which is designated as an entry and exit point air navigation services, navigational aids, fire and rescue services, terminal services and aviation security and aviation Police services.

Opening up a meteorological station and putting in place permanent customs, immigration and fueling services were also high on CAA’s to-do list.

As the country moved towards the last general election, the ruling party once again featured prominently the ruling party’s 2016-2021 manifesto.

“Gulu Airport: Repairs of the runway, taxiways and apron are ongoing. The master plan for further development of the airport and detailed engineering designs were completed. The process of acquisition of extra land for expansion of the airport has started,” the manifesto reads in parts.

Despite plans for the upgrade having been unveiled in August 2005 and the same matter being given prominence in two consecutive manifestos of the ruling NRM, the only thing that has taken place at Gulu airfield is what the spokesperson of CCA, Mr Vianney Luggya, described as “remedial repairs to facilitate special operations”.

The promised expansion of the runway is yet to take place. While navigational services and navigational aids like a VHF radio and a windsock are place, available fire and rescue services and terminal facilities remain largely rudimentary and meteorological services are unavailable.

Customs, immigration and fueling arrangements are only made available on request and other facilities such as departure and exit lounges, a bar and restaurant, warehouses are also not in place.

Official Position
Mr Luggya, the public affairs manager at CAA, says turning Gulu Airfield into an international Airport is still on the cards.
“CAA has so far completed the master plan and detailed engineering designs for the upgrade of Gulu airfield to international status. We have also acquired additional land in the vicinity of the airport and compensated affected families to the tune of Shs 2.8 billion. The first phase of the upgrade project is expected to cost an estimated $57m. A proposal for possible financing has been submitted to the government,” he said.

He said the airfield is currently using a mobile control tower, but that by the end of the first phase of the work the facility will, on top of the expanded runaway, have a new taxiway, an aero plane parking apron and a fire station. It will at the same time have an airfield ground lighting system, a new access road, fencing and a permanent control tower.

“The first phase of the upgrade project is expected to cost an estimated $57m. A proposal for possible financing has been submitted to government,” he added.

Voices
“We know that plans are in high gear to have an international airport in place. As leaders were are supportive of that because we know that it will change the lives of the people here. Gulu has capacity to produce a lot of fruits and vegetables, but transporting them from here to Kampala and to overseas’ markets has been a challenge which the airport should be able to sort out
– Mayor Gulu Municipality, Mr George Labeja.”

“If the promise (to elevate it into an international airport) comes to pass there is no doubt that Gulu will become a major commercial business hub. We shall see more development and many more employment opportunities. Given the mode of transport that will be available, we shall see many more Tourists coming to look at the many historical sites in Acholi sub region
– Mr David Martin Aliker, Businessman and former aspirant for the post of Gulu Mayor

“We have been incurring a lot of costs on transport from here to Kampala and then Entebbe, not to mention the many hours that one spends on the road. I think that when it becomes an international airport those costs will go down and many more people from other parts of the world will be coming to Gulu. This will definitely have a multiplier effect on the local economy
- Mr Alfred Okwonga, Proprietor of Gulu School of Nursing and Midwifery

“If that dream of turning it into an International Airport is realized it will open up some employment opportunities for some of the unemployed youths in the region and give a huge boost to the tourism industry, but I on the whole think that it will not be only beneficial to the people of Gulu district, but the entire northern Uganda
– LC5 Woman CouncilLor for Pece and Layibi Divisions, Ms Santa Oket ta

Impact
Upgrading the facility to the status of an international airport was aimed at stimulating growth of the tourism industry. It had been envisaged that the time spent on making the 300 kilometer journey between Entebbe and Gulu would with the entry of air transport be reduced by more than five hours given that air travel between the two takes about 33 minutes.
Tourists would also be able to travel from Gulu to Murchison Falls Park, which is famous for its variety of bird species and wildlife that includes among others elephants, giraffes, Uganda Kobs, Leopards and Chimpanzees, by air, others would have found it easy to make the 80 kilometer journey by road.
Besides, Northern Uganda had for more than 20 years been the theatre of armed conflict as government forces battled rebel outfits like the Holy Spirit Movement (HSM) of Alice Lakwena, the Uganda Peoples’ Democratic Army (UPDA) and the Lords’ Resistance Army (LRA) of Joseph Kony.
Upgrading the airfield after the guns had fallen silent had been expected to stimulate growth in trade and agriculture. Besides making inroads into the area of sugar production, the region has of late been one of the biggest producers of maize, rice, groundnuts and sunflower, some of which form the biggest exports to especially Southern Sudan.
The airport had been expected to be a major air link between Uganda and Southern Sudan, but that, just like the boosts that had been expected to be realised in the areas of tourism, trade and agriculture, have not materialized.

Monitor’s Position

Thanks to a U$ 200m concessional loan extended to Uganda by China through the EXIM Bank, reconstruction work on Entebbe International Airport to give it a wider runway, passenger and cargo terminals, improved navigation aids and a multi-storey car park is about to be completed. But this may remain a work in isolation if it is not backed up by a string of other functional and well equipped nationwide air transport network.
The government should give priority to developing the internal air transport network, which should help in the resumption of internal flights such as the country had in the 1970s and early 1980s. Neighbours Kenya and Tanzania have developed theirs over the years.
Besides, most of Uganda’s business people are spending increasingly much more time and resources travelling Uganda due to traffic congestion. Making provisions for air transport between major towns will not only reduce on the time spent on the roads, but also help decongest the roads.

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